Here is the number one reason why medical outreach is so urgent in Nepal. The ambulance service in Nepal is very poor,” says Rajesh Gongal, dean of Patan Hospital and president of Nepal Ambulance Service(NAS). Even the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu, with almost two million inhabitants, has just 21 officially registered ambulances, government figures show, most of which are owned by NGOs and community-based organizations. Many hill and mountain districts do not have any registered ambulances. The recent news published by Nepal Ambulance Service is even more alarming.

Because no pre-hospital emergency care system exists in Nepal, victims of trauma or medical emergencies in Kathmandu are transported to hospital either by taxi or private vehicle, with no medical care en route. Since there is no three-digit emergency phone number, such as 999 in the UK or 911 in the US, many patients are not transported to the hospital in time for meaningful medical intervention.

Many patients suffer grievous complications or even die as a result. According to a study by Patan Hospital, of patients arriving at emergency rooms, only 10% arrive by ambulance. 54% arrive by taxi. only 10% of them arrive by ambulance. The consequences of being delivered to an emergency room by taxi or nonprofessional ambulance are serious. In addition to increasing trauma, many victims currently die en route to the hospital because there is no professional medical help to staunch bleeding or clear breathing passageways.

If the patients in the capital city, Kathmandu, suffer in such a way that they are found on the verge of death due to the lack of good ambulance services, it’s not hard to imagine the miserable plight of the patients in remote areas whose lives stand in sheer hopelessness and helplessness when in need of ambulance services.